Teresa and community group FORGE to petition Parliament to protect Erith’s Riverside Gardens

Teresa has joined up with local community pressure group Friends of Riverside Gardens Erith (FORGE) to try to save the Riverside Gardens from development.

Last Saturday 2nd April Teresa and FORGE set up a stall in Erith Town Centre to collect signatures for a petition to the House of Commons opposing Bexley Council’s Erith Western Gateway plan to allow for blocks of flats to be built on part of the gardens. The petition states that the Riverside Gardens should be designated a Town Green and protected as a green open space. It also calls on the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, to provide greater protection for green areas of importance to local communities in the Localism Bill currently going through Parliament.

Teresa said:

“The Riverside Gardens are an important ‘green lung’ for the people of Erith and must be protected. For many of the families living in nearby flats, the gardens are the only green space available where they can go to relax and enjoy themselves.

“The gardens are clearly important to local people – we had people queuing up to sign the petition at the street stall on Saturday and many people also joined FORGE. Together we will be collecting signatures over the next few weeks and I hope to present the petition to the House of Commons when Parliament returns.”